Chapter 02 —


Four days after boarding the V'orkat, the diplomatic vessel sent to ferry Tucker, Ekers and Sallot to Vulcan, the ship assumed a stationary orbit round that planet and shortly afterward the V'orkat's shuttle landed on the roof of Earth's Embassy to Vulcan in order to disembark her passengers, and the Humans were instructed to report to Admiral Ryan's office within the Embassy. Twenty minutes later, the three men were seated in Ryan's office, spread out between two couches on opposite sides of a coffee table made of green Vulcan quartz and wrought iron. Ryan's assistant brought them all iced coffees, and then Ryan began the informal meeting without a preamble.

"Ensign Sallot," said Ryan, sliding a PADD(Personal Access Data Device), towards Sallot, "you're on Vulcan for a four month assignment, during which you're to learn, hands on, the basics of the Vulcan physiology, sufficiently so to render effective medical aid to Vulcans in distress. You'll be based in a nearby hospital, working in that hospital's trauma ward, along with a few dozen other assorted medical personnel from Earth. You will excel this assignment, and then you'll return to the Enterprise where your knowledge may one day come in handy, and prove to be an asset to Doctor Phlox."

"Yes, sir," said Sallot.

"Ensign Ekers," said Ryan, sliding another PADD to that officer, "you're here to be trained for the next two months in some specialized equipment which will soon be added to our fleet, courtesy the Vulcans. Once you've completed that program, you'll be sent back to Earth, and assume a position aboard the soon to be completed Columbia, the Enterprise's sister ship. T'Pol can already perform those functions for the Enterprise."

"Yes, sir," said Ekers.

Ryan nodded at Ekers and Sallot both, and said, "Now, both of you, see my assistant. She'll have a driver take you to your hotel rooms. You have until tomorrow morning to screw around, so make the most of it."

Both ensigns stood and saluted, then departed the room, leaving admiral and commander behind, and the two looked at each other, as Trip finished off his coffee.

"Another coffee, Commander?" said Ryan.

"No, thank you, sir," said Trip. "I need to sleep tonight."

"How about something stronger?" said Ryan.

"What are my options, sir?"

"I have bourbon, a lemon infused vodka, scotch, Andorian ale and sipping quality rum," said Ryan.

"I'll take Andorian ale, sir."

Ryan stood and crossed his spacious office, returning a bit later with two tumblers, a chilled bottle of Andorian Ale, and a bottle of bourbon.

"Much obliged, sir," said Trip, then poured for them both.

Ryan grunted his thanks and then each man emptied his glass. Ryan refilled their glasses and then slid a PADD towards Trip.

"You'll be posted on Vulcan, but taking a daily shuttle to one of the Vulcan Navy's largest military shipyards," said Ryan. "All the Vulcan workers do that. You'll have full access to that facility."

Trip whistled at that, and said, "What's all this about, sir? The Vulcans have been quite reticent to share tech with us until quite recently. Why such a sudden turnabout?"

"Need to know, Commander," said Ryan. "Get familiar with Vulcan building techniques, materials and processes and see where and how they might integrate with our own methods, and vice versa."

"All right, sir," said Trip, thinking furiously and grasping what Ryan apparently couldn't address openly, as each domino fell in place one after the other.

War was coming, thus the sense of urgency which had driven the High Command to share tech with Humans. Vulcan and Earth were now committed to sharing technology, pooling their resources and personnel in order to face this threat, and they planned to share ship building sites, and also repair war damaged ships at each other's facilities.

"How long do we have before open hostilities?" said Trip.

Ryan grinned at that.

"Unless I'm completely off base, sir," said Trip, taking another sip of his ale, and watching Ryan shrewdly.

"I'd heard you were smart as a whip, son," said Ryan, "but I can neither confirm, nor deny your suspicions."

"Sure, Admiral," said Trip, "I understand. But, just speculating wildly here, the Vulcans must be quite rattled in order to suddenly be so open with us. I know they've skirmished with the Klingons before, and that didn't seem to rattle them any, but I've heard that they've been spooked ever since the Enterprise ran into that minefield and met that cloaked ship, so I'm guess—"

"Where did you hear that?" said Ryan, a calculating look on his face.

"Associate who works for StarFleet, sir," said Trip. "Said that the Vulcans viewed our video logs, and just about shit themselves at the sight of those winged ships which decloaked near the Enterprise. In any case, it seemed a harmless enough a piece of information to share then, and it made me think, just now..."

"And what's this associate's name?" said Ryan.

"Sorry, sir," said Trip. "He's a friend. If it means I go to the Brig, I go to the Brig."

Trip downed the contents of his glass, Ryan did the same, then Trip refilled their glasses.

"I can't afford to have one of StarFleet's best engineers in the Brig at this particular time," said Ryan, "but keep your mouth shut about your suspicions, you hear me?"

"Yes, sir," said Trip. "What's the Enterprise up to, while I'm occupied on this assignment?"

"They're heading for Denobula," said Ryan, "in order to upgrade some of the weapons systems."

"I should be there for that, sir," said Trip. "The demands which weapon systems place on the power systems of the Enterprise should be monitored by the ship's Chief Engineer."

"Relax," said Ryan. "Kelby and your Tactical officer will see that the upgrades are done properly, and you can verify that fact when you return to the ship. Until then, you stay focused on this task, you hear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good," said Ryan. "Now finish up your drink, and we'll hit the dining room here. They make a mean Surf & Turf."

"Really?" said Trip.

"Oh, yeah," said Ryan. "Porterhouse steaks imported from Earth and seared to perfection, and this tasty Vulcan crab that breeds in the Voroth Sea. Vulcans won't touch it, being vegetarians now, but they don't mind if we do. Served with a huge baked potato and a hell of a salad."

"Sounds good, Admiral," said Trip, downing the last of his ale in one gulp. "I'm starving."


Aboard the Enterprise, T'Pol stared contemplatively into her cup of tea, her mind racing to find an escape from the trap in which she now found herself entangled, as she now suspected that she was in some measure of trouble. The artificial pon'farr cycle she'd just endured had been prematurely aborted, true, but that had not been enough it seemed. Though she'd escaped the requirement to mate indiscriminately at the time and the full intensity of the pon'farr cycle was apparently side-stepped, its effects on her physiology were not to be so easily avoided, it seemed, and T'Pol sexual desires had only increased with each passing day.

This very day she'd had to excuse herself from the Bridge twice in order to silence those cravings, which threatened her control. Meditation might have helped, but that took time and she'd been on duty, so T'Pol, ah, took matters in hand in the restroom, just off the Bridge. Maddeningly, that did very little to silence the cravings of her body, and worst of all, if she was correct, she would have to contend with these cravings a full year, before she'd begin to be able to fully assert control over her body, and her desires.

"What to do?" thought T'Pol.

She'd already broken her engagement with Koss, and even if she hadn't, the thought of mating with Koss and then spending an entire year bound to Vulcan and Koss's clan, seemed dull in comparison to traveling space with Tri— with Commander Tucker, and the crew of the Enterprise. Thinking of the man now, T'Pol felt only bitter disappointment at his recent departure, as he would have been the perfect solution to her problem, for T'Pol was certain that the man would be willing to help out with her current difficulty, and the idea of spending a year as Commander Tucker's lover seemed most agreeable to T'Pol… no, more than agreeable, much more than that.

"I must ramp up my meditation," thought T'Pol. "Commander Tucker will return in a month, and then we will see what comes of my desires. I can hold out that long."

The alternative to that strategy of waiting for Commander Tucker, was to return to Vulcan and seek out a mate, but that option appealed to T'Pol no more than taking Koss as a mate. No, for now, she would increase her meditation, and take regular physical measures to control her cravings as best as possible. She could last a month.


The day after landing on Vulcan and dining with the Admiral, Trip woke at 0600 hours, showered, shaved, ate and dressed, then left his assigned room in a long term stay Vulcan hotel which catered heavily to the Humans from the nearby embassy, and he walked two blocks in the bright early morning sun, to reach the Earth's Embassy.

A few minutes to clear security, another few minutes to reach the roof and board the StarFleet shuttle ferrying him and four other Human officers to T'Lek Sor, Vulcan's largest military shipyard, built just within the orbital pull of the planet Delta Vega, an ice planet much further out from the Vulcan system's primary sun, 40 Eridani A, than Vulcan. For a pre-warp culture, the sheer distance from Vulcan to Delta Vega would have been daunting, but with modern means of propulsion the trip between Vulcan and the T'Lek Sor took just 17.2 minutes at warp 3.

That T'Lek Sor was located here was no mistake, for this remote location was far easier to secure against unwanted intrusion and surveillance than the civilian yards which orbited Vulcan, and though Trip would have dearly loved to press his face to the shuttle's glass portholes like a little kid in order to see everything as the shuttle approached the giant shipyard, in the presence of other officers Trip played it cool, and kept his seat.

The facility itself was impressive as hell, far larger than anything Humans had built to date, and although some of the civilian shipyards orbiting Vulcan were larger than T'Lek Sor and produced many more civilian ships, T'Lek Sor was far in advance of the civilian shipyards in terms of build quality, and it was this shipyard which produced the largest, the most powerful, the most impressive of Vulcan battle cruisers.

Minutes later, the shuttle landed in a pressurized shuttle bay, and upon leaving the shuttle each officer was approached by a Vulcan Ensign or Lieutenant, and a young Vulcan male approached Trip in his turn.

"Commander Tucker," said the Vulcan. "I am V'Tesk, and I will be your assistant for your entire month with us."

Trip gave V'Tesk the ta'al, the traditional Vulcan salute with the fingers split in a V shape, and said, "It's good to be here, Lieutenant."

V'Tesk nodded, and then said, "If it pleases you, Commander Tucker, I will introduce you to Administrator Volok now. He has set aside the rest of his day to give you a personal overview of this facility. This way, please."